I asked a friend what cuisine he wanted for his belated birthday feast and he quickly replied South African. I’d been imagining Mexican, Thai, even Indian menus in my head. I thought maybe he’d even get crazy and ask for Vietnamese or Malaysian…but South African?? I was befuddled but totally up for the challenge. After a little research and a lot of excitement I ended up with the dishes in this post. They are all delicious alone, but exceptional and really special together. South African cuisine is influenced by many other regions, and you can certainly taste India in this dish. But elements of the curry make it uniquely South African, and when served with quick pickled vegetables and a sweet apricot chutney, this is a meal that will give you dreams of Cape Town. Invite some friends over, make the pickled veggies and chutney the day before, and have yourself an amazing and interesting dinner party.

In a large, heavy-bottomed, lidded pot over medium-low heat, cook the dried apricots and cherries until very soft (about 30 minutes).

Reduce the heat to low and add all of the other ingredients and continue to cook and stir until a delicious, thick, gooey chutney has formed (at least an hour, two is better).

Once cooled, pulse six or eight times in a food processor to bring everything together and give it a spread-able consistency.

This makes way more than you’d need for one meal (probably 5 cups worth), but you can easily jar and save the rest (eat it on toast, over ice cream, on rice).

Notes

I know it doesn’t sound quick! You’re thinking, “Two hours? Quick my butt!” But, for a chutney, you generally start by soaking the dried fruit overnight. Lightly boiling them for 30 minutes first cuts this step out and makes it come together pretty quickly. And the result is still sticky, sweet goodness.

3 T curry powder (To make this a true Cape Malay curry you need Cape Malay curry powder, however I used a blend of my two favorite curry powders, one spicy and one sweeter, that combined contained most of the ingredients in the distinct Cape Malay mix)

2 t roasted cumin (or Geera)

1 t tumeric

1 t coriander

½ t freshly ground black pepper

½ t cinnamon

everything else

3 T oil (seems like a lot, but you’re using mostly veggies and broth here so this fat helps the final flavor)